Former WWE Superstar Zack Gowen spoke to Temple-News about his first encounter with Hulk Hogan.

“I remember they took me to his locker room my first day on Smackdown to go over what we were going to do that night,” Gowen said. “When I walked in, he jumped out of the shower butt naked. The ‘Immortal’ Hulk Hogan walked up to me like nothing is out of the ordinary, saying ‘Hey, how ya doing brother?’ I was like ‘Hey, hey Hogan, nice to meet you.’”

Gowen gave his thoughts on Vince McMahon and how he is very much like his on-screen character.

“[McMahon] is very much like the character that he portrays,” Gowen said. “He is very assertive, demanding, intelligent and a maniac. Those are all terms of endearment because he has to be that way to handle all those egos and personalities in that locker room. I have all the respect and love in the world for [McMahon].”

The former WWE Superstar also talked about his departure from the company.

“I was released because of personality conflicts with the other wrestlers and management,” Gowen said. “It goes back to my emotional immaturity and not being able to handle that type of responsibility. When I was fired, I was really bitter, angry and hurt for a long time. I saw myself as a big, bad professional wrestler and that’s not who I was anymore.”